NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Allan Houston scored 20 points and Marcus
Camby added 18 as the New York Knicks used a balanced attack and
won for the fourth time in five games with a 98-79 triumph over
the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Houston made 7-of-16 shots and Camby knocked down 9-of-16 as New
York shot 49 percent (39-of-80) and won for just the second time
in the last five meetings with Cleveland.

Glen Rice contributed 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks,
who overcame the absence of Latrell Sprewell, their best player,
and Larry Johnson. Sprewell sat with an upper respiratory
infection and Johnson missed his fourth straight game with back
trouble.

Point guards Mark Jackson and Charlie Ward each played 24
minutes ran New York's offense almost flawlessly. The pair had
15 points and 16 assists while committing just two turnovers.
They made 6-of-11 shots from the floor.

"I thought Mark did a good job controlling the offense and I
thought Charlie did as well," New York coach Jeff Van Gundy
said. "We kept our turnovers (nine) down very well tonight,
which was very good."

"I thought we played good basketball even though we had just
nine guys," Van Gundy added. "I thought everybody contributed.
I thought we had play and energy from the bench. Lavor had a
couple of defensive mistakes, but I thought he played hard and
played well. Othella was extremely active, he gave us some good
scoring inside and I thought Charlie played well. All the guys
coming off the bench did a very good job."

Camby and Kurt Thomas, who had nine points and nine boards,
dominated inside, helping New York to outscore Cleveland in the
paint, 42-18.

"It's a big win," Camby said. "We are missing two guys from our
starting lineup. Guys stepped up and played well and
contributed well. Othella came in again and set the tone for
us. He has been playing the last two ballgames and we will nee
him to play like that depending on how long Larry Johnson is
out."

The Knicks moved one half-game in front of the idle Miami Heat
for third place in the Eastern Conference.

Chris Gatling scored 13 points off the bench and rookie Chris
Mihm and Andre Miller each added 12 for Cleveland, which shot
just 39 percent (30-of-77) and lost for the eighth time in nine
games.

"Defensively we just didn't take anything away from them,"
Cleveland coach Randy Wittman said. "They played a fine game.
They made us work for whatever we had to get. To come here and
play this team you have to match that intensity. We allowed
ourselves to succumb to it which makes it difficult to score.
They played a good game."

New York came out hot, shooting 57 percent (12-of-21) in the
first quarter and taking a 26-21 lead.

Cleveland closed within 28-27 when Gatling made a pair of free
throws with 9:36 left in the second quarter. Harrington
answered with a hook shot and after Cleveland missed on its next
possession, Camby hit a shot inside the paint to push New York's
lead to 32-27 with 8:39 remaining.

After Jim Jackson hit a basket to trim the margin to 36-31 with
6:58 left in the first half, Rice converted a three-point play
to ignite a 15-0 run. Rice had a 3-pointer during that run that
was capped by Harrington's layup for a 51-31 with 4:09 left.

"I think we had a lot of fun and when you're having fun you
allow things to go your way," Rice said. "The idea was once we
got the big lead to keep the pressure. It is something that we
need to achieve this year. Tonight was a gut-check for us. I
think we did a very good job. We believe in each and every one
of the guys' talent on the team."

Rice scored 13 points in the first two quarters when the Knicks
shot 60.5 percent (23-of-38) and built a 57-39 lead.

The Knicks did not let the margin fall below 13 points after the
break and built as big as 90-67 when Thomas made a layup with
6:24 to play in the fourth.